In Tornado alley

[Freezing Cold B]

I grew up and live in central Iowa. I can't remember any tornado warnings while I was at school, but we were taught to go to the hallway and use our textbooks to cover our heads. Our lunchroom was in the basement though (I have no idea why we didn't go there if there was a warning) and I always said if a tornado came I was going there. It was a huge room, but the only kids that took shelter there were the special education children (there were maybe 10 of them k-12).

 

[Chelley00]

We are also an "Edge" of tornado alley. Our schools have bathrooms in the center of the buildings and that is where the kids go during tornado drills. DS8 is mad because every year he's had to go to the girls bathroom, even during preschool

Most houses here don't have basements, so I can't imagine a school having one. It's really expensive to build one (something about soil consistency being too hard?)

 

[tchrrx]

Our elementary building is a metal building. If severe weather is coming, we quickly move the kids across the parking lot to the main building. I teach at a private church school, so we put all the kids in a centrally located room next to the auditorium. It's probably safe enough for an F1-F3, but wouldn't be adequate for an F4 or F5.

 

[Feralpeg]

I live in Wichita, KS (smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley) and have worked for the public schools here for nearly 12 years. In recent years our school district has been VERY proactive in making sure all of our 100+ buildings are equipped with structures that we call “Safe Rooms”. FEMA provided grant money to our school district to help with the construction of the rooms and as of right now I believe close to all of our buildings have an adequate “Safe Room” large enough to hold all of our students.

Our building’s Safe Room doubles as a gym, it has no windows, thick cinderblock walls and the doors are heavy duty and include steel rods that go up and down out of the top and bottom of the door to help keep the doors shut in case of a violent storm. The Safe Rooms are constructed according to the standards set forth by FEMA. As a school we practice “Tornado Drills” the same way we do Fire Drills ; students practice lining up and moving quickly to the Safe Room.

Before Safe Rooms, and in buildings where they may not be a Safe Room, the protocol is to have students move to the center hallways, away from exterior walls. We’d have students sit down and tuck and cover their heads with their hands. As a parent myself, I feel much better knowing my kids are in schools more structurally sound and better prepared for storms than relying on interior hallways.

I’ve been in several different schools when the sirens have sounded—and I can honestly say that while scary, it’s also something that most of our students are “used” to. I’ve had to shelter in hallways as well as in the more secured Safe Room. I am always proud of my fellow staff members as it can be difficult herding hundreds of children with the thread of powerful storms just outside your windows. In every instance our staff has acted not only calmly, but with compassion helping to quiet fears and dry tears. Thankfully, we have never had to face the situation that Moore has had to face, and my heart and prayers go out to all of those affected.

While a great feature for lesser tornadoes, only an underground room will provide adequate protection from an F4 or F5 tornado.

I grew up in Kansas City. None of the schools had structures that would protect against a storm like the one that just hit Moore, OK.

 

[bushdianee]

I'm in Nebraska and our school was renovated on 2000. They built a storm shelter underground that is supposed to be large enough for everyone to be able to sit on wooden benches. There is a bathroom, only a single but better than nothing and drinking water is stored there also. One time a few years ago the sirens went off during parent teacher conferences. Parents were still coming and going so we just held conferences in the storm shelter until the danger had passed.
Each teacher has an emergency bag we grab for fire or tornado drills. it has an updated class list with phone numbers, a few books, paper, pencils, etc. to keep the kiddos busy if we are there for very long.
We usually have 1 or 2 drills a year.

 

[princesslynn]

While a great feature for lesser tornadoes, only an underground room will provide adequate protection from an F4 or F5 tornado.

I grew up in Kansas City. None of the schools had structures that would protect against a storm like the one that just hit Moore, OK.

I could see where that was true in the past, but according to the FEMA standards used for these structures they are designed to withstand up to 250 MPH winds (EF5 strength).

From the article linked below:

"The additional rooms, which include gymnasiums, fine-arts suites, wrestling rooms and classroom additions, are designed to FEMA standards reinforced with 10 to 12 inches of concrete, steel doors and missile protection roofs and are strong enough to withstand winds of an EF-5 tornado and the accompanying debris."

Also from the article linked below:

The statements that shelters have to be underground is untrue, said Ross Redford, a licensed professional engineer with Mid Kansas Engineering Consultants in Wichita.

We design FEMA shelters to be above grade, designed per code, he said. Theyre designed for a 250-mile-an-hour wind speed and to keep people safe. People will be able to walk out and be unharmed.

New shelter designs are based on lessons learned in previous storms.

http://www.kansas.com/2013/05/21/2812662/wichita-school-district-a-pioneer.html#storylink=cpy

 

[NotUrsula]

Newer above ground safe rooms are often constructed of bedrock-anchored insulated concrete form. It is particularly resistant to wind and debris damage, though it is vulnerable to fire damage.

If you you drill the footings down 100 feet or so and cast the walls around the the uprights, it's very solid, and over a foot thick. The most difficult part is adequately strapping down the roof.

 

[mrsklamc]

I'm in Nebraska and our school was renovated on 2000. They built a storm shelter underground that is supposed to be large enough for everyone to be able to sit on wooden benches. There is a bathroom, only a single but better than nothing and drinking water is stored there also. One time a few years ago the sirens went off during parent teacher conferences. Parents were still coming and going so we just held conferences in the storm shelter until the danger had passed.
Each teacher has an emergency bag we grab for fire or tornado drills. it has an updated class list with phone numbers, a few books, paper, pencils, etc. to keep the kiddos busy if we are there for very long.
We usually have 1 or 2 drills a year.

Just wanted to say hi! I don't see too many Nebraskans on here. Grew up in south central NE.

 

[Lyn-CA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amryn21

I live in Alabama and this is what we do too. The schoolsystems usually close all day or let out early when it is going to be severe weather.

I believe that I have heard of that here, as well.

When there are these huge, dangerous, CELLS... Scary!!!!

Posted from Disboards.com App for Android

 

[kacaju]

Tornado drills in schools around here are done just as are fire drills. I guess I never realized that wasn't common across the country. Hmm.

I have lived in NJ my whole life and I now work in a school We have never done a tornado drill and honestly...I have no idea what to do if we were faced with a tornado while we were in school.

 

[almburr]

Tornado country here! We had one hit here a few years ago. took out several houses, no one was hurt. majority of the homes have basements. School uses the lower hall (I don't care for that one since it is under 2 stories of brick) and the fall out bunker from many years ago. We have drills several times a year.

When I had DS12 we were in a warning the night before he was born and the night after he was born, every year except one time on his birthday we have had warnings, not a watch. so we have celebrated in the basement sitting on the floor in the safest room.

To me its a norm. I'm terrified of earthquakes! tornadoes not as much.

 

[emilyltd]

I live in tornado alley and have all my life and I don't live in daily fear of tornadoes, but I do take them seriously. I can tell you that most tornadoes are not even close to an F5. That was a very unusual storm. I think most tornadoes are an F1 or F2, if I'm remembering correctly. That was a monster.

Even so, in that one, the vast majority of the people were okay. You would have thought the death toll would be in the hundreds, but it wasn't. If you are inside a structure - in an interior room or underground, almost all of the time, you are ok. Those poor kids were so unlucky it's unbelievable. So sad.

Honestly, no matter where you live in the country, there is some kind of weather that can be catastrophic. Here, it just happens to be tornadoes.

 

[carrie1626]

I live in Alabama and this is what we do too. The schoolsystems usually close all day or let out early when it is going to be severe weather.

I couldn't help but wonder why school wasn't let out sooner because of predicted storms.

Tornadoes are my #1 fear and I've never lived anywhere near TA. My experiences are all from camping. If I camp severe weather usually happens. You can count on it. And I love camping, but I am always listening to the weather station.

 

[mrsklamc]

We were never let out of school because of impending storm...but tornado-friendly weather happened mostly in the evening so there was no need.

I have never had my eyes opened to how ignorant most of the country is about tornadoes until all these threads....or cnn had an article about how this mom was heroic because she got her kids in the car....No, she was an idiot and you are endangering lives publishing that...a car is the worst place to be in a tornado!!

And guess what state ranks 4th in tornado activity? I'll give you a hint...most of us on this board have been there.....And apparently it's a minority of us who ever learned what to do in case of a tornado.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

We were never let out of school because of impending storm...but tornado-friendly weather happened mostly in the evening so there was no need.

I have never had my eyes opened to how ignorant most of the country is about tornadoes until all these threads....or cnn had an article about how this mom was heroic because she got her kids in the car....No, she was an idiot and you are endangering lives publishing that...a car is the worst place to be in a tornado!!
And guess what state ranks 4th in tornado activity? I'll give you a hint...most of us on this board have been there.....And apparently it's a minority of us who ever learned what to do in case of a tornado.

I'm not sure if the article was in regards to the Oklahoma tornado, but residents in the area were in fact being advised to drive away from the area due to the magnitude of the tornado. The residents were given at least a 20 minute warning. If she didn't have a in ground shelter or an interior room she might not have made it unless she drove away.

 

[emilyltd]

I'm not sure if the article was in regards to the Oklahoma tornado, but residents in the area were in fact being advised to drive away from the area due to the magnitude of the tornado. The residents were given at least a 20 minute warning. If she didn't have a in ground shelter or an interior room she might not have made it unless she drove away.

They were telling people to drive away from the storm. Usually, that's horrible advice because the path of a tornado isn't predictable. In this case, I think the weather service realized going in that this might be in the F4 F5 category and above ground structures cannot handle that. It was good advice in that particular situation if you were in a house without underground shelter. Usually, you do NOT want to be in a car when a tornado is on the ground. So - 9 times out of ten, do not try to drive away from a tornado.

In fact, in the last two major tornadoes with death tolls, a lot of the people killed were in their cars.

 

[mrsklamc]

Had to google b/c I just couldn't believe they were told that. This was just a few local meteorologists, not the NWS. The thing about tornados is, there may be more than one, and they can turn on a dime. I can't say why they would had said that, but this woman just decided to go on her own. For CNN to hold her out as a hero w/o explaining it is almost always the wrong decision, I think is dangerous and irresponsible.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

They were telling people to drive away from the storm. Usually, that's horrible advice because the path of a tornado isn't predictable. In this case, I think the weather service realized going in that this might be in the F4 F5 category and above ground structures cannot handle that. It was good advice in that particular situation if you were in a house without underground shelter. Usually, you do NOT want to be in a car when a tornado is on the ground. So - 9 times out of ten, do not try to drive away from a tornado.

In fact, in the last two major tornadoes with death tolls, a lot of the people killed were in their cars.

Driving away is actually pretty good advice if you understand that these storms generally track Northeast AND you understand which direction to drive. If the tornado is many miles to your West, driving straight South is the best bet to avoid it. You don't want to wind up driving toward it, or trying to outrun it in the direction it's headed unless you can actually SEE it. And, you must keep up to date on other spin offs from the same storm.

My wife & I had a scary situation in MS one time. We were listening to the local radio station in our car & they broke in to say a tornado had been spotted 5 miles West of Union, MS (not positive that was the name of the town). Well, we had no idea where in MS that was until JUST THEN when we passed a sign that said, "Union, MS 5 miles" So, now we're in a pickle - do we stop and hope it passes us to the North, or do we try to outrun it? If we hadn't been on the Interstate, we'd have turned around & gone back South, but there was no place to turn around. Then, we spotted a sign for a rest stop, but when we got there, the only "structures" were port-a-potties We eventually rode it out, but it got ugly. We believe we missed it just to the South though we did run into severe hail, wind, and rain. After it cleared, we came upon a car 100 yards off the road wrapped around a tree with a sheet over it. Was a car that had passed us a few miles earlier We decided that having an awareness of where we are on the road could be a life saver.

 

[mrsklamc]

Except, Gumbo, that sometimes the worst of them, esp. when there are spin offs, up and decide to move in an abnormal direction. And still make cnn's reporting that this mother just 'had a feeling' she should drive away when apparently most of the US isn't taught about tornadoes even though they can happen most anywhere, a bad idea.

 

[pumpkinmomma]

Had to google b/c I just couldn't believe they were told that. This was just a few local meteorologists, not the NWS. The thing about tornados is, there may be more than one, and they can turn on a dime. I can't say why they would had said that, but this woman just decided to go on her own. For CNN to hold her out as a hero w/o explaining it is almost always the wrong decision, I think is dangerous and irresponsible.

I tend to agree with you. I know there were a few local news stations saying that. It worked out for that woman but most of the time trying to drive away from the tornado is the worst thing you could do. You never know if it's going to change direction, spin off another tornado, split into two funnels, it's just not a good idea.

Most fatalities are people caught in there cars trying to outrun the storm.